//------------------------------// // Underway // Story: Entropy // by Rose Quill //------------------------------// I looked in and smiled at Sunshine as she slept, her mane mussed and the blankets tucked up tightly around her. I walked over softly and leaned in to kiss her forehead just below her horn. “I love you,” I whispered, feeling a sting in my chest as I turned away. I had reached the door when I heard a voice call softly. “Sunny,” I closed my eyes. “Go back to sleep, Twilight.” I heard the blankets rustle. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” “We’ve got a lead,” I said. “I have to leave pretty soon. I’ve got some protectors set up here to keep everypony safe that they can, but they can’t do much against what we’ve learned. A memory of the Blight flickered to my mind and I barely kept it from trickling into the bond. She didn’t need to see that. I felt a tingle of magic brush through my mane, so similar to the sensation of fingers. I turned and saw her looking at me with a worried expression. She sat up slightly and smiled sadly. “Be careful? For both of us?” I smiled and nodded. “Always,” I said. “You get some rest, and I’ll be back before you know it.” She laid her head down and gave me a smirk. “Liar,” she teased. “You’d better come back. I’m not raising this kid on my own.” I trotted back over and rubbed noses with her. “I aim to meet this kid, you know,” I whispered to her. “And Twilight and Cadence are going to be with me. They should keep me out of trouble.” She nuzzled my cheek and sighed. “They’d better,” she whispered. “I’d hate to have to kill you.” I laughed and kissed her. “Sleep, silly.” I turned then looked at her again. “I love you.” “I love you,” she replied. I lingered for a moment, but when I heard a rustle of wings, I looked out the doors to the balcony and saw Philomena sitting there with Twilight. The Alicorn had a heavy torc around her neck and held a second one in her magic. I trotted out to meet them, closing the doors behind me. “Ready?” I asked, taking the torc from the other pony and settling it around my neck. “Ready,” Twilight responded, wings fluffing. We should leave soon, Philomena said in my mind. You should still have to raise and lower the sun and moon on the journey, so the more progress we make now is that much less tomorrow. I looked at Twilight. “Do you still have the Dream contingency spell set up?” I asked. She nodded. “We still have our duties,” she said. “Even if Moondancer and Starlight are going to be hearing the petitions while we’re out.” I smirked. "I feel sorry for them,” I chuckled as I spread my wings. I stepped to the railing and set a hoof on it, but then looked back, seeing Sunshine staring at me. I hesitated and stepped down. I love you, I heard. Come back to me. I nodded at her, then glanced up. Two birds sat above the bay doors, one bright red and one electric silver. Heard a rustle of wings as a third came in to roost, as dark as a midnight sky. I took a deep breath and took off, not looking back as we flew. I was worried if I did, I’d lose my nerve. Cadence met up with us around three hours into our flight, a similar torc to ours around her neck. “Fancy meeting you here,” she teased as she came alongside us. “Hey, Cadence,” I said, smiling at her. “Wish we could see each other under normal circumstances once in a while though.” She smiled grimly. “Agreed,” she responded. “But such is the fate of rulers, sometimes.” And that was when I heard a sound that I couldn’t identify and started looking around. Behind us, a dark cloud was gaining on us quickly. “What?” Calm, Sunset Shimmer, came the calm voice of the phoenix in front of us. The cloud came closer and I realized the sound was that of dozens of sets of wings. It is merely my kin. And the flock of phoneix gathered around us, warm reds, cool silvers, arctic blues, and dark ebony speckled with argent highlights. I looked in awe as the swirled around us, some obviously playful, others grim. Most were of the same age as Philomena, but I saw a few that looked to have been recently regenerated and some were already beginning to molt. “This is amazing,” Twilight breathed. “I never knew there were so many varieties of phoenix!” “I knew of two,” Cadence whispered. “But I didn’t know of the other two.” The cloud of avians continued to swirl around us as the land flew by under us. I could see the city of Fillydelphia below us, and I glanced at the sky. “We’ll have to land soon to lower the sun,” Twilight called out to the rest of the group. “It’s getting late in the day.” “And to rest our wings,” Cadence said. “It’s a long flight from the Empire to here.” I frowned. “We can make it a few hours more,” I said. I didn’t want to delay. The sooner we made it to our destination, the sooner we could head back. “Sunset,” Twilight said. “We’ver been flying for almost four hours straight. We can at least grab a short rest on a cloud.” I glanced behind us, to where Canterlot lay. I couldn’t even make out the mountain it rested upon now, distance and clouds hiding it from my view. Even the sensation I always had of the bond with my wife was growing tenuous. I closed my eyes and sighed. “Another hour,” I said. “And then we’ll stop for the night.” We will take the watches so you can reserve your strength, I heard a voice say, lighter and younger than Philomena’s. That will be our part in this endeavor. I glanced to the side and saw a small phoenix next to me, keeping pace. She had yellow undertones to her red, making her appear more orange, and the feathers on her head looked like she had bedhead, matted and sticking out in several directions. “Do you have a name?” I asked. The phoenix looked at me with what I thought to be a smile crinkling her eyes. Thea, she said.